Business

Penitent Romanian hacker aims to protect world’s ATMs

Bader — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:44:20 -0400

VASLUI, Romania — Valentin Boanta, sitting in his jail cell, proudly explains the device he has invented which, he says, could make the world's ATMs impregnable even to tech-savvy criminals like himself. Boanta, 33, is six months into a five-year sentence for supplying gadgets an organised crime gang used to conceal ATM skimmers, which can copy data from an unsuspecting ATM user's card so a clone can be created.

Japan PM pledges to slash red tape for growth

Bader — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:44:18 -0400

TOKYO — Japan's premier said yesterday he would slash red tape in a bid to boost corporate investment as he seeks to capitalise on the feel-good mood of a soaraway stock market and a plunging yen. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set out broadbrush outlines of the third of his "three arrows" of a plan dubbed "Abenomics", which is intended to turn around years of deflation in the world's third-largest economy.

Morrison seals $306m Ocado deal in online catch-up

Bader — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:44:15 -0400

LONDON — British supermarket chain Wm Morrison is investing more than £200 million ($306 million) in a 25-year deal with online grocer Ocado, seeking to catch up with rivals in home delivery and sending Ocado shares to a record high. Morrison, which trails Tesco, Wal-Mart's Asda and J Sainsbury in annual sales, has suffered falling profits and market share, partly due to its late entry into online grocery which is growing about 16 per cent a year.

A stretched Samsung chases rival Apple’s suppliers

Bader — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:44:12 -0400

SEOUL — Overtaking Apple Inc as the world's leading maker of smartphones has stretched Samsung Electronics Co's in-house supply lines, and the South Korean firm is now courting some of its rival's main parts suppliers. After costly courtroom battles over technology patents, the two gadget giants are now going head-to-head over securing the best supply of parts as they jostle to rule the $253 billion smartphone market. The two took 100 per cent of the industry's profit in January-March, Canaccord Genuity data show.

European shares near peaks, carmakers rally

Bader — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:44:10 -0400

LONDON — European shares held near multi-year highs in volatile trade yesterday, with some investors using early weakness as a buying opportunity and with carmakers cheered by signs of a revival in domestic sales. The STOXX Europe 600 auto sector added 2.4 per cent after data showed Europe's car market growing for the first time in 1½ years in April. Adding to the bullish picture, Michelin said tyre sales to automakers rose 3 per cent in April in Europe, a sharp contrast with double-digit drops in monthly sales recorded in the first three months of the year.

Asian shares mostly up after US stocks dip

Bader — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:44:08 -0400

HONG KONG — Asian shares were mostly higher yesterday as Japanese stocks hit a fresh multi-year high after Wall Street dipped on weaker-than-expected economic data. The dollar gained slightly in Asia as investors cautiously adjusted their positions following the unit's recent surge, with brokers saying plenty of players, including importers, were willing to buy on dips.

Turkey hails new investment grading

Bader — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:44:06 -0400

ISTANBUL — Turkey hailed its second investment grade rating yesterday, seeing it as a seal of approval from international markets for a decade of economic reform. Investors joined in, driving sovereign bond yields to record lows. Government enthusiasm was tempered, however, by some concern that the move, coinciding with a visit by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to Washington, might trigger over-large capital inflows into the lira currency.

Brussels, Berlin lukewarm on Hollande's euro zone vision

Bader — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:44:04 -0400

French President Francois Hollande's sweeping proposals for deeper euro zone integration yesterday, noting that many of his ideas were already in circulation. In a 2½ hour news conference at the Elysee Palace on Thursday, Hollande set out plans for an "economic government" for the 17 euro zone countries, including its own budget and a full-time president.

Huge LNG deal with Japanese firms revealed

Bader — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:44:01 -0400

PARIS — French energy group GDF Suez has signed a joint-venture with US firm Sempra Energy and Japanese groups Mitsubishi and Mitsui relating to the construction of a huge liquefied natural gas factory in the United States, it said yesterday. The Deputy Managing Director responsible for gas operations at GDF Suez, Jean-Marie Dauger, said that "the Cameron LNG project will enable the group to diversify and increase its LNG interests and also its flexibility in supplying existing and future markets in zones of strong growth."

Malaysia’s UMW may raise $1 bn in energy unit IPO

Bader — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:44:00 -0400

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s UMW Holdings Bhd plans to sell 39 per cent of its oil and gas unit in an initial public offering this year that could raise up to $1 billion, a source said yesterday. The state-backed conglomerate’s announcement is the latest in a slew of planned listings, looking to build on last year’s momentum that saw the Southeast Asian nation become one of the world’s top IPO destinations.